Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent which is a 40 day period where we journey with Jesus Christ through His most sorrowful passion and death and ultimately we CELEBRATE EASTER, the Day He rose again in all His glory, when He conquered Sin and Death.

Catholics attend Mass on Ash Wednesday when the priest places ashes on our forehead and says the words :

1. Repent and follow the Gospel.

2. Thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.

During Lent, there are three things that we need to do ”

1. Prayer – What is prayer? Prayer is having a conversation with
with God. We talk, God listens. Then God talks and it
important to listen to what God is saying to us.
1 Tessolonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing” Does it
mean that we have to pray 24 x 7? Yes. Well, how
can we do this? It means that we need to be in the
Presence of God all the time. No matter what we are
doing – eating, working, dancing, cooking or sleeping,
we need to be conscious of the Presence of Jesus Christ.
When we are conscious of the Presence of Jesus Christ,
we would try our best to do everything to please Him
and thus we would be walking away from Sin.

2. Fasting – We are all called to abstain from eating meat on Ash
Wednesday, on all Fridays during Lent and on Good
Friday. Fasting is primarily an act of willing abstinence
or reduction from certain or all food, drink or both for
a period of time. WHY DO WE FAST DURING LENT?
We combine fasting, praying, contemplating on the
passion of Christ and engage in acts of self-discipline.
When we fast, our bodies become submissive to Our
Spirit. This is another way of walking away from Sin.
We are also called to fast from our sinful habits. We
can give up watching TV or watching less hours of TV.
Spend less time on the internet and make some more
sacrifices. We can share our food with the poor.

3.Almsgiving – We can save some money during Lent and give our
to CARITAS. This is an organization that helps the
poor and the needy. I think it is very important for us
to give money to CARITAS this Lent as there are many
displaced Catholics and Christians. These are the
people who have been driven out of their homes by
terrorists in Syria. They were forced to leave everything
behind and to flee for their lives if they refused to
convert to Islam. These people are very poor indeed as
they gave up their homes and their life savings for
JESUS CHRIST.

So my dear Catholic and Christian brothers and sisters, let us begin our journey with Jesus Christ, this Lent. For those of us who were
walking away from Christ, it is time to TURN AROUND AND TO COME BACK TO HIM.

The families of Myuran Sukuraman and Andrew Chan should be strong for these two boys. Friends, Mercy Supporters and Governments who are supporting these two boys should be their anchor.

All supporters should be positive in their thinking and we should pray with faith believing that God is all knowing, all seeing and He is merciful to the penitent sinner. These boys have repented and we can be sure that God has forgiven them. It is very important for us to be strong in our faith and to believe that their lives could be saved.

More importantly we need to pray that Indonesia would do away with the Death Penalty and that they would have programs to enable prisoners become better human beings, so that they can be useful to themselves, to society and the country at large.

We as individuals should work on ourselves to become better people and we should be a good influence on others. If we can make a difference in the lives of others, then we should.

About

Hi! My name is Florence D’Costa. I am a Catechist in my Parish in Melbourne, Australia. I also consider myself to be an evangeliser and hence, I have this great yearning in my heart to Evangelise and to talk about Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I have started this blog to express some of the things that I think is important and I hope that my readers both Catholics, Christians and others, would benefit.

I have studied scripture for five years and I was trained in teaching scripture. I have in turn taught scripture for one year to a group of the faithful who have been yearning to learn the Word of God. I was also trained in performing skits, write poems, stage on the spot dramas from stories in the bible and evangelise through dance and song.

I am also an Actress and a Singer and I belong to two Theatre Groups – COG Theatre Group and Amuse Threatre Group. We, in COG Theatre perform Christian Musicals to promote Jesus Christ. We train and teach cast members to become better performers and also to realise that they have been created for a specific purpose in life. In Amuse Theatre Group, we help cast members to become better people with a purpose and aim in life. When we stage plays, we reach out to the audience with a message which would stir them to become better people – people with a purpose in life!

By profession, I am a Civil Celebrant and I help people to celebrate any occasion.

I have a talent to make people happy. Happiness and joy come from Our Lord Jesus Christ. What I have freely received, I freely give. I have a flair for writing and I will try my best to help people to the best of my ability.

DAILY OFFERING PRAYER

God, our Father, I offer You my day. I offer you my prayers, thoughts,words, actions, joys, and sufferings in union with the Heart of Jesus, who continues to offer Himself in the Eucharist for the Salvation of the World. May the Holy Spirit, who guided Jesus, be my Guide and my Strength today so that I may witness to your love. With Mary, the Mother of our Lord and of the Church, I pray for all Apostles of Prayer and for this month's intentions by the Holy Father. Amen

Pope's Prayer Intention - - Young People: That young people may respond generously to their vocations and seriously consider offering themselves to God in the priesthood or consecrated life.|read the reflection|

Urgent Intention - Landslide Victims/Peace: Victims of the landslide in Colombia and peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, and Paraguay.

PRAYER OF ST ANTHONY OF PADUA

(Parents could say this prayer in their child's room and they could sprinkle their room with Holy Water if their child has nightmares. The same could be done even if teenagers or adults have nightmares.)

"Behold the Cross of the Lord! Begone, you evil powers! The
Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered.
Allelulia!"

A Litany of St. Michael

Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
[Repeat pray for us after each invocation]
Holy Mary, Queen of the Angels,
St. Michael, the Archangel,
Most glorious attendant of the Triune Divinity,
Standing at the right of the altar of Incense,
Ambassador of Paradise,
Glorious Prince of the Heavenly armies,
Leader of the Angelic hosts,
The standard-bearer of God’s armies,
Defender of Divine glory,
First defender of the Kingship of Christ,
Strength of God,
Invincible Prince and warrior,
Angel of Peace,
Guide of Christ,
Guardian of the Catholic Faith,
Champion of God’s people,
Guardian Angel of the Eucharist,
Defender of the Church,
Protector of the Sovereign Pontiff,
Angel of Catholic action,
Powerful intercessor of Christians,
Bravest defender of those who hope in God,
Guardian of our souls and bodies,
Healer of the sick,
Help of those in their agony,
Consoler of the Souls in Purgatory,
God’s messenger for the souls of the just,
Terror of the evil spirits,
Victorious in battle against evil,
Guardian and Patron of the universal Church,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

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TRADITIONAL DAILY OFFERING

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,I offer You my
prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart; the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month.

A PRAYER OF BLESSING

The Lord Bless you and protect you;

The Lord make his face to shine upon you,

and be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace."

Amen.

A SORRY PRAYER

O my God, I am sorry for all my sins
Because they displease Thee who art all good
And deserving of all my love
And with Thy help I will sin no more.

Prayer to St. Michael

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.